1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an agricultural machine for harvesting forage comprising a frame supporting at least one device for picking up plants lying on the ground and at least one device for moving the plants that have been picked up, which moving device is situated close to the pickup device and moves said plants transversely to the latter.
This machine makes it possible to pick up plants spread out on the ground and to move them laterally for the purpose of placing them in windrows. It is then possible to pick up these windrows for example by means of a baler or a forage harvester.
2. Discussion of the Background
A machine of this type is known in patent application WO 2005/041638. This machine comprises several pickup devices and moving devices in order to increase its working width. On this machine, the plants can accumulate at times on any one of the pickup devices and therefore travel in an irregular manner over the corresponding moving device. This may cause the blockage of the moving device as well as the formation of a windrow of inconstant volume that is able to disrupt the operation of picking it up with the baler or the forage harvester.